Latino Daily News

Latin American Leaders Arrive in Argentina to Pay Respects to Nestor Kirchner

The presidents of Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Uruguay arrived in Buenos Aires to attend the wake at Government House. Regional leaders expressed their condolences to President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner while UNASUR (Union of South American Nations) declared three days of “South American Grief” for Kirchner’s death.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, a close friend of the Kirchners, arrived at the Ezeiza airport, where he was greeted by Rafael Folonier, head of Argentina’s presidential unit.
“We come to Buenos Aires with the tears of the Caribbean and the Orinoco, to join the sorrow and the pain of the Argentine people and of its president, sister Cristina,” said Chávez, who travelled with Foreign Minister Nicolás Maduro. He praised the UNASUR head saying: “before Kirchner, there was night. Kirchner arrived and the day arrived.”

Pope Benedict XVI sent his condolences to the President through Monsignor Adriano Bernardini. “Due to your husband’s death,” said the letter addressed to Fernández de Kirchner and dated October 27, “ I raise fervent prayers to God for his eternal rest and express deep feelings of sorrow for you, your children and other members of the family of the late leader, as well as to the government and people of the beloved Argentine nation.”